A review by serendipitysbooks
Equator by Miguel Sousa Tavares

adventurous emotional informative reflective tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

 Equator is a work of historical fiction that follows Luis Bernado Valencia, a Portuguese businessman who is appointed Governor of São Tomé and Príncipe, solely to deal with the issue of labour on cocoa plantations. The British believed the imported Angolan labourers were actually slaves, and if this was proved it would harm Portugal’s prestige and the economy. I thought the political and social situations were perfectly captured - the tensions between the British and the Portuguese, between different Portuguese colonial administrators, and between Valencia and the plantation owners. Readers could feel the impossibility of his mission (was he meant to ensure slavery wasn’t happening or merely ensure it couldn’t be seen to be happening?), his isolation, and the way he was effectively hamstrung from taking effective action. The book was obviously well researched and the tension, especially during the labourers’ revolt, was convincingly depicted. This was a story focussed on white men - Valencia and his British counterpart. Women, African and Indian characters tended to be stereotypes and never fully developed, and there was a nasty taste of anti-semitism in one scene. Arguably this reflected the early twentieth century setting but it was jarring nonetheless. Despite these reservations I found the story an engaging read. 
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